The present invention relates to a door mechanism of an automotive air conditioning device, which can slide in a limited space to control air flow.
In general, an automotive air conditioning device-comprises an intake unit for introducing outside and inside air, a cooler unit for cooling the introduced air and a heat for heating the introduced air, these three units being combined in series and installed in a limited space of a vehicle cabin, such as a space defined below an instrument panel.
However, due to the in-line connection of the three units, the automotive air conditioning device is compelled to have an enlarged size. Thus, when such device is mounted in a small car, the smaller vehicle cabin space is further limited, which is undesirable.
In view of the above, as is shown in FIG. 18, there-has been proposed a device in which a cooler unit 1 and a heater unit 2 are positioned close to each other and aligned along a fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle thereby to reduce not only a longitudinal size xe2x80x9cLxe2x80x9d of the vehicle but also a lateral size of the same. Furthermore, in this device, for reduction of size, the distance between an evaporator 3 and a heater core 4 is reduced and a mix door (which will be referred to as just xe2x80x9cdoorxe2x80x9d hereinafter) 5 for producing cooler and/or warmer air is reduced in size.
As is known, the evaporator 3 is a device through which a low temperature low pressure refrigerant, which flows in a refrigerating cycle, flows for producing a cooled air by conducting a heat exchange between the refrigerant and an induced air. While, the heater core 4 is a device through which a highly heated engine cooling water flows for producing a heated air by conducting a heat exchange between the cooling water and an induced air.
Denoted by numeral 6 in the drawing is a defroster door which, in a defrosting mode, opens a defroster opening 6a for defrosting a window, denoted by numeral 7 is a ventilation door which, in a ventilation mode, opens a ventilation opening 7a for blowing a cooled air against an upper part of a passenger, and denoted by numeral 8 is a foot door which, in a foot mode, opens a foot opening 8a for blowing a warmed air toward the upper part of the passenger.
However, in the unit having the above-mentioned construction, the reduction in size of the door 5 tends to cause a difficulty with which distribution of cooled air and warmed air is controlled. Thus, in some devices, as is illustrated by a broken line in the drawing, an auxiliary door 5a is provided for controlling the amount of air led to the heater core 4. However, in this case, the addition of such auxiliary door causes a complicated and highly costing construction, which is of course undesirable.
Accordingly, recently, there has been proposed, as is shown in FIG. 19, a much compact automotive air conditioning device (see Japanese Utility Model Provisional Publication 6-71222).
In the device, for achieving the compact construction, a cooler unit 1 and a heater unit 2 are integrated, and an evaporator 3 and a heater core 4 are positioned close to each other. That is, since the mix door 5 pivoting about a rotation axis 5b needs a relatively larger mounting space, a flat plate door 9 (the door shown in the drawing comprises two doors 9a and 9b which are connected through pins pa and pb to a door actuating mechanism comprised of a link mechanism) is employed, the flat plate door being slid up-and-down along a rail 9c for effecting the temperature control.
However, a door mechanism possessed by the above-mentioned vertically sliding type tends to show weak points in operability and sealing performance. That is, in order to prevent air leakage around the door 9, it is needed to remove or minimize a clearance between the rail 9c and the door 9. However, if the 44 clearance is too small, the sliding resistance become increased causing non-smoothed movement of the door 9. This undesired phenomenon equally occurs even if a sealing member is arranged between the door 9 and the rail 9c. While, if, for achieving a smoothed movement of the door, a larger clearance is provided between them, the undesired air leakage tends to occur. That is, in this case, antinomic matters take place.
In a door mechanism of a slide door type wherein, like the door 9 described in the above-mentioned publication, a plate type door is slid, it is difficult to achieve a satisfied sealing. That is, although a sealing needed when a linearly running door comes to a terminal position is adequately achieved by only putting a seal member between the door and a member to which the door contacts, permanent deformation of the seal member takes place instantly because the flat seal member is pressed each time the door is actuated. In view of this, it is difficult to keep an adequate sealing for a long time. That is, even when the door comes to the terminal position that is, close position, undesired air leakage tends to occur in relatively early time, and thus, if such slide type door is used as the mix door, the temperature control performance is inevitably lowered due to the poor sealing.
While in a case wherein, like the above-mentioned door 9, the sliding mechanism is composed of a link mechanism, the connection between the pin and the link tends to produce a play upon operation of the door. When the door is applied with a certain pressure, noises caused by the play tend to be produced which are transmitted to the vehicle cabin to make passengers uncomfortable.
The present invention is provided for eliminating the above-mentioned drawbacks possessed by the conventional techniques. That is, a first object of the invention is to provide an excellent door mechanism of an automotive air conditioning device, which is compact in size, smoothly operable, superior in sealing performance and temperature control performance and suppressed from producing noises.
Furthermore, in the automotive air conditioning devices of these days, there has been developed a type which has a so-called fresh-ventilation mode and can blow a cooled air into the vehicle cabin from a ventilation opening when needed.
The automotive air conditioning device of this type comprises, as is shown in FIG. 20, a conventionally constructed automotive air conditioning device which includes an outside air intake opening 161, an inside air intake opening 162, an intake unit 160 having a fan F and a motor 164 installed therein, a cooler unit 101 having an evaporator 103 (viz., part constituting part of a refrigerating cycle) installed therein and a heater unit 102 including a heater core 104 through which engine cooling water flows, a mix door D, a bypass passage B, a warned air passage H and a mix chamber E, and further comprises a cooled air passage 114 through which the cooled air passing through the evaporator 103 is directly led to a ventilation duct 116.
Accordingly, when a fresh ventilation door 122 for opening and closing the cooled air passage 114 is opened, a cooled air is blown into the vehicle cabin from ventilation openings 121a and 121b which faces the vehicle cabin. Accordingly, in this case, it is possible to direct the cooled air against only the face of a driver for an adequate time, which makes the driver feel comfortable.
Apart from the above, automotive air conditioning devices belong to a device which is usually installed in a limited space, such as interior of an instrument panel. Thus, bulky structure of the device makes installation in a motor vehicle, particularly in a smaller motor vehicle difficult. Accordingly, for the need of reducing the device mounting space in the vehicle, various attempts have been made for reducing the size of the device.
However, in automotive air conditioning devices having the above-mentioned conventional fresh ventilation mode, a separate cooled air passage connecting to the ventilation duct must be provided to the conventional automotive air conditioning device. That is, in the devices, it is necessary to prepare a structure by which the passage is defined as well as separate parts, which causes an increase in cost and a need for a certain space for mounting therein the separate parts.
The present invention is provided for eliminating the above-mentioned drawbacks possessed by the conventional techniques. That is, a second object of the present invention is to provide an automotive air conditioning device which can possess a fresh ventilation mode irrespective of its simple, lower cost and compact construction.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned first object, the present invention provides, as is defined in claim 1, in an automotive air conditioning device including one upstream side air passage, two downstream side air passages branched from the upstream side passage, a door having a predetermined size and arranged to select one of the two downstream side air passages for feeding the air flow from the upstream side air passage thereto or to distribute the air flow to both the downstream side air passages at a given ratio, and movement limiting structures arranged at upstream and downstream sides of the door near the door, a door mechanism of said automotive air conditioning device, the door mechanism being characterized in that the door comprises a door proper which is arranged between the movement limiting structures and extends in a direction to shut the air flow from the upstream side air passage and a seal member which is boned to one surface of the door proper, the door proper being capable of sliding in a direction to shut the air flow with the aid of a sliding mechanism, the sliding mechanism having a gear meshed with a toothed portion of the door proper, so that when, upon operation of a driving device, the gear is driven, the door proper is slid in the sliding direction and when the door proper comes to a terminal end of the sliding path, the door proper is moved in a direction angled to the sliding direction, so that the seal member is contacted to and pressed against a contacting member formed on a case which has the air passages defined therein.
With this arrangement, for example, in case wherein the door is used as a mix door which is arranged to distribute the cooled air to both a heater-core installed passage and a bypass passage bypassing the heater core, the door proper arranged between the movement limiting structures located between the upstream side passage and the two downstream side passages can slide in a direction to shut the air flow. Accordingly, the dimension of the door proper in the direction along which the air flow can be reduced, which brings about compact construction of the unit. Furthermore, since, at the terminal end of the sliding path, the door proper can change its way in a direction angled to the sliding direction, sealing is carried out while pressing the seal member. Thus, sealing of the door proper at the terminal end of the sliding path is improved and the temperature controlling performance in a condition wherein the door proper takes its middle position is improved. Furthermore, since the sliding mechanism is of a gear driving and driven type, smoothed operation of the mechanism and easy handling of the door are obtained and no noises are produced.
A door mechanism of an automotive air conditioning device as defined in claim 2 is a door mechanism for use with an automotive air conditioning device including two upstream side air passages, a downstream side air passage, a door having a predetermined size and arranged to selectively lead the air flow from one of the two upstream side air passages to the downstream side air passage and movement limiting structures arranged at upstream and downstream sides of the door, said door mechanism being characterized in that the door comprises a door proper which is arranged to between the movement limiting structures and extends in a direction to shut the air flow from said upstream side air passages and a seal member which is bonded to one surface of said door proper, the door proper being capable of sliding in a direction to shut the air flow with the aid of a sliding mechanism, the sliding mechanism having a gear meshed with a toothed portion of the door proper, so that when, upon operation of a driving device, the door proper is slid in the sliding direction and when the door proper comes to a terminal end of the sliding path, the door proper is moved in a direction angled to the sliding direction, so that the seal member is contacted to and pressed against a contacting member formed on a case which has the air passages defined therein.
With this arrangement, for example, in case wherein the door is used as an intake door which selectively introduces the vehicle interior air (viz., inside air) outside air and/or the vehicle outside air (viz., outside air), the door proper arranged between the movement limiting structures located between the two upstream side passages and the downstream side passage can slide in a direction to shut the air flow. Accordingly, the dimension of the door proper in the air flow direction can be reduced, which permits compact construction of the unit. Furthermore, since, at the terminal end of the sliding path, the door proper can change its way in a direction angled to the sliding direction, sealing is carried out while pressing the seal member, and thus, sealing of the door proper at the terminal end of the sliding path is improved. Furthermore, since the sliding mechanism is of a gear driving and driven type, smoothed operation of the mechanism and easy handling of the door are obtained, and no noises are produced.
A door mechanism of an automotive air conditioning device as defined in claim 3 has such a feature that the sliding mechanism comprises cam grooves which are formed on both side surfaces of the case which has the air passages defined therein and a plurality of guide members provided on one side of the door proper and slidably received in the cam grooves, each of the cam grooves having at a terminal end portion a portion by which the corresponding guide member is guided in a direction angled to the sliding direction of the door proper, and the seal member being pressed against the contacting member when the door proper comes to the terminal end portion.
With this arrangement, the door proper can be driven along the cam grooves formed in both sides of the case. Thus, the door proper never produces play even when applied with wind pressure. Furthermore, since the cam grooves help the seal member to be pressed against the contacting member through the door proper, protection against undesired lowering in sealing performance can be lasted for a long time, which means improvement in sealing.
The invention defined by claim 4 has such a feature that the gear of the sliding mechanism has higher teeth which are higher than other teeth, so that when the driving device drives the gear, the higher teeth press the sealing member against the contacting member through a toothed portion formed on the door proper.
With this arrangement, by the higher teeth formed on the gear, a certain pressure can be applied to the door proper, so that the sealing member can be pressed against the contacting member. Thus, lowering in sealing performance can be suppressed for a long time, which means improvement in sealing
The invention as defined in claim 5 has such a feature that said door proper is supported by a supporting roller which is fixed and positioned at a laterally middle portion of the door proper, the supporting roller resiliently contacting the door proper.
With this arrangement, even if the door proper becomes deformed by a certain degree under the influence of heat from the evaporator and the heater core which are positioned near the door proper and/or the door proper is applied with a certain wind pressure, the deformation of the door can be prevented or minimized and thus satisfied door movement is achieved. Even if the sliding mechanism employs the gears, undesired gear slippage never occurs under operation of the gears and thus smoothed operation is achieved.
The invention as defined in claim 6 has such a feature that the door proper has an arcuate cross section so that the door proper is can contact the gear driven by the driving device.
With this arrangement, smoothed operation of the gears is achieved due to the nature of the gears. Furthermore, even when the door proper is arranged to shut the air flow, the air flow distribution performance and air guiding performance of the door proper are increased when the door proper is flexed toward the upstream direction of the air flow. Furthermore, air flow resistance is reduced and if the door proper is flexed toward the downstream direction of the air flow, the air guiding performance is increased.
The invention defined by claim 7 has such a feature that the air passages are provided by coupling a pair of case members having the door proper put therein, and that the air passages have, at a downstream portion of the door proper and at a middle portion of the path along which the door proper slides, a center connecting portion by which the case members are connected.
With this arrangement, the middle portion of the sliding path constitutes a dead space. The paired case members can be combined by using the dead space, and the strength of the case can be increased. Furthermore, in comparison with a case wherein a separate connecting member is used for connecting the case members, marked reduction in air flow resistance is achieved in the invention. Furthermore, satisfied air flow stability and satisfied temperature controlling performance are achieved.
The invention as defined in claim 8 has such a feature that the supporting roller is connected to the center connecting portion.
With this arrangement, during the process when the paired case members are being to be combined, the supporting roller can be installed. Furthermore, since the installation of the supporting roller is achieved by using a dead space inevitably produced at a middle portion of the door sliding path, effective usage of the space is accomplished.
The invention as defined in claim 9, which establishes the above-mentioned second object, has such a feature that a door mechanism of an automotive air conditioning device comprises a heater core for heating air introduced from outside and inside of a motor vehicle; a hot air passage which extends through the heater core; a bypass passage which bypasses the heater core; a mix door which adjusts the rate between the amount of air directed to the bypass passage and that of air directed to the hot air passage; a mixing chamber which mixes the air coming thereto from the bypass passage and the air coming from the hot air passage; a ventilation opening to which a ventilation duct connected to the mixing chamber is connected, the ventilation opening being arranged to blow air against an upper portion of a passenger in the vehicle cabin; a ventilation door equipped with a pivot axis and arranged to open and close the ventilation opening; a defroster opening connected to the mixing chamber, the defroster opening being arranged to blow air against a front glass window; a defroster door equipped with a pivot shaft and arranged to open and close the defroster opening; a contacting portion to which opposed ends of the ventilation and defroster doors contact when the ventilation and defroster openings are closed by the doors, the opposed ends being the ends of the doors which are opposite to the ends of the door to which the pivot shafts are connected; and a cooled air passage through which the introduced air is led to the ventilation duct without passing through the hot air passage and the bypass passage, the cooled air passage including a hollow portion defined in the contacting portion, the contacting portion having a ventilation duct connecting opening through which said hollow portion and the ventilation duct are connected. In this invention, since the door contacting portion to which the free ends of the ventilation door and the defroster door are contactable has the hollow portion defined therein, part of the cooled air flow coming from the upstream portion of the air passage is led, through the hollow portion and the ventilation duct connecting opening, into ventilation duct.
The invention as defined in claim 10 has such a feature that the ventilation door has on its upper surface a projected portion which closes the ventilation duct connecting opening when the ventilation door closes the ventilation opening. In this invention, the ventilation duct connecting opening is opened and closed by the ventilation door per se. That is, when the ventilation opening is closed by the ventilation door, it never occurs that cooled air having passed through the evaporator in the cooled air passage is directly blown into the vehicle cabin. While, when the ventilation door is opened, cooled air is assuredly led to the vehicle cabin through the cooled air passage.
The invention as defined in claim 11 has such a feature that, in the automotive air conditioning device as defined in FIG. 9, the ventilation duct connecting opening is located at a position which is concealed or covered by the end portions of the ventilation door when the ventilation opening is closed by the ventilation door. In this invention, with a simple construction, the ventilation duct connecting opening can be opened and closed by the ventilation door per se.
The invention as defined in claim 12 has such a feature that, in the automotive air conditioning device as claimed in claim 9, the ventilation duct connecting opening and the ventilation opening have a common center axis along which air flows, and that the length of the ventilation duct connecting opening measured in a direction perpendicular to the common axis is smaller than that of the ventilation opening. In this invention, the cooled air flow having passed through the cooled air passage and the ventilation duct connecting opening is mainly blown toward a center portion of the vehicle cabin.
The invention as defined in claim 13 has such a feature that, in the automotive air conditioning device as defined in claim 9, a case is provided, the case being constructed by coupling first and second cases at vertically dividing surfaces of the same, the vertically dividing surfaces extending along the air flow direction and passing through the ventilation duct connecting opening. In this invention, only by forming rectangular recesses in the vertically dividing surfaces of the cases and mating the vertically dividing surfaces, the ventilation duct connecting opening is easily provided.
In the invention as defined in claim 1, at the space defined between the upstream side air passage and the branched two downstream side air passages, where the movement limiting member is located, there is provided the sliding type door, and the seal member bonded to the door proper is pressed against the contacting member only when the door proper assumes the close position. Accordingly, compact construction is achieved, and sealing and temperature controlling are improved, and smoothed operation is achieved. Handling of the door is easily s made without producing noises, which provides the operator with a pleasant door handling.
In the invention of claim 2, at the space defined between the two upstream side air passages and the downstream air passage, where the movement limiting member is located, there is provided the sliding type door, and the seal member bonded to the door proper is pressed against the contacting member only when the door proper assumes the close position. Accordingly, compact construction is achieved and sealing is improved. Furthermore, smoothed operation is achieved, and handling of the door is easily made without producing noises, which provides the operator with a pleasant door handling.
In the invention of claim 3, the movement of the door proper is guided along the cam grooves. Accordingly, the door does not rattle even when applied wind pressure. Furthermore, since the cam grooves help the sealing member to be pressed against the contacting member through the door proper, lowering in sealing performance is suppressed for a long time and thus sealing performance is increased.
In the invention of claim 4, the higher teeth of the gear press the door proper for pressing the sealing member against the contacting member. Thus, lowering in sealing performance is suppressed for a long time, and thus, the sealing performance is increased.
In the invention of claim 5, the door proper is not deformed even when applied with marked wind pressure. Furthermore, irrespective of usage of gears in the sliding mechanism, undesired slippage of teeth does not occur, and thus, smooth operation is achieved.
In the invention of claim 6, smoothed operation, satisfied air flow distribution and satisfied air guiding are achieved. Furthermore, reduction in air flow resistance is expected.
In the invention of claim 7, the paired case members are coupled with effective usage of the dead space inevitably produced by the door. Thus, the strength of the case is increased and reduction is air flow resistance is achieved. Furthermore, due to the satisfied air flow directional stability, the temperature controlling of the air is improved.
In the invention of claim 8, during the process when the paired case members are being to be combined, the supporting roller can be installed. Furthermore, since the installation of the supporting roller is achieved by using a dead space inevitably produced at a middle portion of the door sliding path, effective usage of the space is accomplished.
In the invention of claim 9, part of the cooled air flow coming from the upstream portion of the air passage is led through the hollow portion in the door contacting portion and the ventilation duct connecting opening, into the ventilation duct. Accordingly, a simple, low cost, compact, strong and highly sealed automotive air conditioning device having a fresh ventilation mode can be provided.
In the invention of claim 10, the ventilation duct connecting opening can be opened and closed by the ventilation door per se. Thus, there is no need of providing a separate door which opens and closes the cooled air passage.
In the invention of claim 11, with a much simpler construction, the ventilation duct connecting opening can be opened and closed by the ventilation door per se.
In the invention of claim 12, the cooled air flow having passed through the cooled air passage and the ventilation duct connecting opening is mainly blown to a center portion of the vehicle cabin.
In the invention of claim 13, only by forming rectangular recesses in the vertically dividing surfaces of the cases and mating the vertically dividing surfaces, the ventilation duct connecting opening is easily provided. Accordingly, molds for molding the case can have a simple structure.